Team-BHP - Fiat Grande Punto : Test Drive & Review

GTO: Kudos for the well balanced review. Appreciate your keen observation. The point you apprised us of the well-sculpted steering wheel is noteworthy. Later, I checked with my Palio and noticed that even this has the "tumb rest" near the spokes in the steering wheel, though it is not as contoured as in GP.
With regard to fit and finish, the other day I was driving behind a Vista and noticed its rear bumber. I was stunned to see the bottom edge of the bumper; they couldn't make it in a straight line. Out of curiosity, I checked a couple of other cars. Ditto. Compare this with cars like Honda or Fiat and you know what is meant by quality. Is it the result of cost-cutting?
When you mentioned the quality of plastics inside GP, I was wondering as to what makes the manufacturers to prune a few hundred rupees on objects that any customer has to see day-in and day-out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinpak (Post 1356074)

I guess that my earlier post was too long and that confused you a bit. I agree with whatever you say here. All I intend to say is that no matter how fuel-efficient you make a Punto (or for that matter any FIAT), an average Indian buyer is not going to buy it. Even with a mileage of 40kmpl. All it is left with are the enthusiasts, who wouldn't mind paying a premium for a good car.

With the current gamble, FIAT has lost both the groups, the mileage concious buyers and the enthusiasts.

Could not disagree more.
How about an example? myself? I think I'm an average Indian Car buyer as described by you & not an entusiast strictly. I never bought a Fiat & did not intend to do it. Saw Linea & ended up buying it. Everyone who mattered were against it. Elders in family, colleagues everybody advised me against it. Some others are still asking why I bought her.

I think I do not need to say anymore than this to your point. Do I?

Quote:

Originally Posted by somebodystopme (Post 1356136)

...
and lastly Around 700KMS permonth running warrants a diesel Punto?

The diesel breaks-even in about 3 years for you in Delhi. Also, it will have a better resale value. So a diesel will be a win-win situation for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 1356130)

@ashwin... I dont think Fiat brand has so many enthusiasts, so as to buy 1000 + cars every month. There is one on our forum who wanted to buy the Honda City but bought the Linea instead, thats where the sales and volumes will come from. And if you look at how many of the people on our forum who have bought the Linea have had a Fiat product previously, you will get your answer.
Enthusiasts havent compromised..... infact none of the hardcore Palio fans have still bought the Linea or the Punto. They are all new buyers and this is heartening to see.
Fiat hasnt screwed up this time, infact they are doing it just right this time around. Once they have the volumes you can them for the T-jet and the 1.6 JTD and what not.

In fact, Fiat enthusiasts are cribbing that 1.3 has not come with VGT, and they want either 1.6 MJD or 1.4 T-jet. So they are all waiting.

Actually Fiat 'enthusiasts' are happy abt Linea/Punto success from the point of view of their love for Fiat. Now they know that Fiat will survive and do well. They cannot be happy from the point of view of the 'enthusiast' in them being taken care of and satiated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amit (Post 1356046)

Lots of complaints about interiors too but except for the Fabia and i20, which car has better quality plastics then the Punto?

Which other cars left in this "premium hatch back" segment.

Jazz,& Ritz . It may be right in the case of Ritz

Source : Blog Archive Fiat India to launch Grande Punto on 17th June

Quote:

The stylish car will fall in the same segment as the Maruti Suzuki Ritz, Hyundai i20, Skoda Fabia and the to-be-launched Honda Jazz.

Excellent Review GTO, thanks for the detailed pictures & performance analysis.

This car deserves to be successful, hope it will be a Volume Generator for FIAT India.

One thing i wanted to ask is, has anybody driven the 1.2 Petrol Active Variant, i think it has been given a Stepmotherly treatment :), it should also be reviewed for the prospective First Time buyers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinpak (Post 1356252)

Punto is a great car. The only things going against it is the slightly lower power (for the weight) and the rear legroom. And both could be overcome, by (1) getting a Pete's and (2) moving the rear bench by a few inches. I think a good workshop can help.

1) The Pete's box has been used extensively on Swifts, Palio's and Vista's. So there will be no problem on the Punto. Additionally there is a box available from Rapid which bumps up the power by 14 or 16 BHP. Quite popular in Europe.
2) The Punto has tumble down seats. That means if you remove the seat (or tumble it down) the boot level is same as the floor. Shifting back will not be a problem. However the problem arises when you now drop down the seat. In the original position the folded seat goes in the gap where you place your feet. When it is shifted back, it may foul with the floor when tumbled down. This will be better explained with a diagram.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrnsss (Post 1356173)

I went and saw the punto at TAFE access. Sat in the car and did not have much room. There was a palio standing right next to it. I sat in the drivers seat and found that it has lots of leg room. I am puzzled. Where did all the space go ?

Today I went to a FIAT showroom in Cochin. I compared the Vista and Punto backseats. Vista has definitely more legroom. The thigh support is also about 15 cm more in the Vista in the backseat. The difference I think is because Vista has less boot space. In Punto the boot space has been increased which has resulted in less space at the back seat. I had gone after 5 O'clock so I could not get a test drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1355245)

Fiat invited Team-BHP for the Punto test-drive. They covered all the expenses for this driving event.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1340925)

Honda invited Team-BHP for the Jazz test-drive event. They covered all the expenses for this trip.

Its a tribute to the Team-BHP, that the auto companies are inviting you fellows for extensive tests and post reveiws. It also means that they are watching this forum, which is a good thing.

Had been to concorde motors showroom, mumbai. Checked out an electric blue emotion punto. Wont waste time talking about the good points of the punto. I agree to them as much as most people do. All that is simply fabulous.

Some critical observations though:

We compared the seats and legroom of the gp with the vista. The rear legroom of the vista seems to be the same as the gp. However the seat depth of the vista is more than the gp. That explains why the rear seats of the vista seem more comfortable with that additiona bit of thigh support.

Similarly the front seats depth of the gp is more than that of the vista, giving more thigh support. Hence the front seats of the gp seem much better than the vista's.

We can safely say that the gp is a drivers car and the vista a chauffeur driven one.